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An Ode to the Jubilant Festival
Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrating the victory of goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura, celebrated from the sixth to tenth day of bright lunar fortnight. The six days are observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Shaptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami, and the last Vijayadashami. With all the temples in Dhaka decorated elegantly, we at Showbiz initially decided to visit the popular ones in Dhaka and decide on which puja mandap felt most festive. However, at the tenth day of the festival, also known as Bisharjan, in the spur-of-the-moment, we decided to ask some of our close friends to tag along in this quest. They were Bitopi Das Chowdhury from Standard Chartered Bank, actress Tamalika Karmaker, actress and model Heera, model Azimuddowla and Shagota, a singer and actress.
Our first stop in this journey was at Kalabagan Durga temple. We were mesmerized at the festivity from the very start; the beautifully decorated Mandaps were surrounded by people from different religion all gathered for the love of culture; there were people take photos of Mandaps and of themselves. As expected, by being surrounded by celebrities comes the undivided attention of journalists and fans and this time was no exception. However, we spent very little time voicing our opinion to the journalists and mostly enjoyed being amused by the colorful jubilation. We stopped next at Khamar Bari to experience the temple's take on Durga Puja celebration. Our third stop was at Ramna Kalibari, which has several temples in its boundary, of which Durga Puja was celebrated in the Ma Durga temple.
We stopped next at Dhakeshwari temple, situated in Lalbagh. The national temple of Bangladesh was built in the 12th century hosts the largest celebration of the festival in the country. The site is popular for being visited by notable personalities among everyday citizens, as a result, it is quite likely to come across some celebrities every now and then. Next in the list was Dhaka University's Jagannath Hall, which was one of the places where the main Durga Puja Mandaps in the city were installed. Our final stop in this journey was at Ramkrishna Mission, a historical monument situated by the river Buriganga at Mitford area in Old Dhaka.
This is one of the worldwide branches of spiritual organizations Ramkrishna Math and Ramkrishna Misison, which was originally established in 1897. The festival here goes in full swing for the whole five-day period, coupled with a fair for the visitors to enjoy themselves. At last, our memorable excursion came to an end with the immersion of the idols on Bijoy Dashami. We also visited some other Mandaps during the five-day festival that includes Banani puja Mandap, Uttara, Diya Bari and Bashundhara R/A temples.
What made this quest so special was the impromptu nature of it; nothing was planned as a result the experience came out to be organically amusing. The festival was simply astounding with the surrounding euphoria in these temples bringing out the best of cultures that this nation boasts about.
The experience was truly eye-opening as we believe this was the start of what we hope will be continuing for many years to come. In the coming years, we plan on making the experience more interactive with our readers. We also plan on awarding the best Mandap in next year's Durga Puja, as a token of appreciation for bringing the most festive vibe among all Mandaps. With that in mind, it is time to start planning for the next Durga Puja celebrations and while at it,reminisce our spur-of-the-moment adventure with friends that encouraged us to make it bigger and better in the coming years.
By Rafi Hossain
& Syed Ahnaf Sadeed